Sursa foto: ING Tech
ING Group’s software development hub is preparing to enter the IT market in the north-west of the country and will open its second office in the center of Cluj-Napoca in the coming period.
Involved in the development of ING Group’s strategic areas such as core banking, digital channels, banking products and data management, the technology hub is currently developing over 120 services to 24 ING entities and has reached 1,300 employees this year. The company is following its plans to develop its portfolio of services, continuing to hire both in Bucharest and in other regions of the country, where it offers remote employment contracts.
The expansion of the company with a new office in Cluj-Napoca follows both the company’s long-term development plan and the need to adapt to the hybrid way of working for ING employees across the country. The new office in Cluj-Napoca will function as a hub for the North-West region and will be a connection point with the IT community in this part of the country.
“At the moment, given the pandemic situation, employee health and safety is a priority for us and all ING Tech Romania employees work from home. We plan to transition to a hybrid working mode – a working mode that will be defined together with the employees – as soon as the situation allows us to do so. This will apply to all colleagues, including those in Cluj and the region, who will have a physical office to support the new hybrid working mode in the future”, says Marian Ion, CEO ING Tech Romania.
For the time being, the company plans to hire a small group of experienced specialists to set up the Cluj-Napoca office, and in the coming period teams will be formed to contribute to the development of global projects in areas such as data management or digital channels and platforms.
New projects and business lines
This year, ING Tech teams have been working on the development of a solution for small and medium-sized companies, which will allow customers in this segment to open a 100% digital account. The solution is being developed for countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and will be rolled out globally in the coming years.
The Hub is also working on developing a service that constantly anticipates ING customers’ current and future needs and adapts the customer’s next steps in their relationship with the bank, also using artificial intelligence. This service will be launched initially in Italy, with Romania and the Philippines to follow next year.
In the web and mobile area, ING Tech is currently contributing to the development of internet banking apps for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and will continue to develop internet banking apps for other ING countries over the next two years.
Future plans
In 2022, ING Tech will continue to develop projects in the company’s core areas such as core banking, digital channels and data management area and will start developing end-to-end services and applications developed entirely by ING Tech Romania’s IT specialists.
Early next year, or as soon as the pandemic situation allows, the company plans to formalise the move to its new headquarters in Bucharest – now under construction – and to inaugurate the office in Cluj-Napoca. Both offices will function as regional centres, adapted to the hybrid way of working.
The new hybrid working mode will be defined together with the employees and will be modularly structured, so that each business area and each team can define their office attendance and work rituals, depending on the context in the team and the individual situations of their colleagues.
ING Tech will maintain its growth momentum, with plans to reach 1,500 employees in the coming period. The company has grown steadily from 250 IT specialists in 2016 to 1,300 today. ING Tech Romania’s turnover has evolved along with the number of employees, from €18 million in 2016 to €68 million by the end of 2020.